One of the main things you need to take into consideration when traveling with a DSLR camera is how you’re transporting it. You can wrap it in a towel and put it in a regular bag or you can get yourself an actual camera bag. Both work but the latter is going to help preserve your gear and make putting in and taking out your camera much simpler.

When I got my new gear I knew I couldn’t keep doing my towel method. It takes so long to get the camera out. Sometimes your bag is wet or full of sand. Also, if I wanted to take more than one fragile item I would have to get multiple towels. So, I made plans to get an actual camera bag! =)

My brother was nice enough to send me down his old bag as he wasn’t using it very much. He had purchased the Canon Deluxe backpack 200 EG and it was a very good purchase. It has plenty of pockets to carry all of the things you want to have when shooting and multiple straps on the sides and back of the bag.

The Pockets:

There are three main pockets with zippers. The first to hold your camera, tripod and lenses with two additional zipper pockets on the inside for extra batteries, memory cards and cleaning gear.

The second pocket is great for chargers, keys and a planner.

The third pocket is for random stuff. At least that’s what I use it for.

There’s also a bungee system that is great for carrying a bottle of water with you.

Main Pocket Opened With Gear

Middle Pocket

Durability:

I’ve taken this bag everywhere with me since I got it and use it almost daily. It’s been to the mountains, the beaches, lakes, rivers and the city. I’ve dropped it, soaked it fully, gotten mud on it and more. A quick wash with some fresh water, a few hours in the sun and boom, like new. There is some rusting happening on the rivets but it’s very minimal and a given when you live five minutes from the beach.

Price:

I checked on multiple sites as well as eBay and Amazon and the Canon Deluxe backpack 200 EG goes for about $40USD, which makes me wonder why I didn’t get it earlier.

There’s Just ONE Thing:

Although this bag is amazing there’s one thing that I’m not a fan of. When the main zipper pocket–the one that holds thousands of dollars of gear–is left zipped up at the top center of the bag, the weight of the contents will slowly cause the bag to unzip and eventually all of your gear will just drop out on the ground. This happened to me while hiking up Pico Duarte and another time walking into the grocery store. Luckily for me during the hike we were on a grassy part of the trail and in the grocery store someone told me my bag was opening before it spilled its contents. I wonder if Canon covers gear that falls out of their bags due to this?

So, lesson learned: never leave the bag zipped up at the top. I always make sure both of my zippers are either on the bottom right or left corner.

All in all:
If you’re looking for a low priced, sturdy, lightweight camera bag this is definitely a good choice.